According to statistics, the most divorces in Belarus were registered in the capital of the state - Minsk. The most dangerous age for spouses to get married is considered to be 25-34 years old.
It is this age group that most often makes the decision to end a relationship. On average, first marriages last no more than 10 years. Statistics show a sad situation, but it is inexorable.
In society, precedents are increasingly emerging when spouses hastily take a serious step without knowing each other well. There are opinions that in order to preserve the institution of marriage, serious measures will soon be taken.
For example, paying for a divorce will significantly hit your wallet. Perhaps the threat to the budget will force young couples to think twice before celebrating their wedding.
There are only two roads in divorce:
- to court;
- at the registry office.
Let us consider in more detail the features of procedures through different authorities.
Features and procedure for divorce according to the laws of the Republic of Belarus
Hasty marriages, which quickly tire the spouses after a couple of years of marriage, are usually dissolved quickly and without any obstacles.
A completely different situation arises with unions in which relationships have been built for more than one year. As a rule, such couples have children together and acquire common property.
During a divorce, naturally, everything acquired will have to be “cut up” somehow. This is the main stumbling block of all couples: one does not agree with the demands of the other half, the other believes that he has invested more, and he is deprived. Disputes arising from the inability to reach an amicable agreement lead such spouses to court.
The servants of Themis also decide with whom young children will stay. Precedents when one spouse has an ardent desire to divorce, and the other has a dull refusal, are also resolved in court. It is worth noting that if the spouse is expecting a baby, then she will not be able to get a divorce without the consent of the other half .
Exactly the same situation arises when raising a child under 3 years of age. Without the consent of the husband, the other party will have to wait until the third birthday of the common child and only then start divorce proceedings.
The definition of the concept of “common property” can be found in Art. 23 of the Code on Marriage and Family, shares are discussed in detail in Article 24.
Article 30 of the same code writes in detail about the spouse’s right to maintenance, the amount of this financial assistance and the conditions under which the maintenance is terminated. Article 34 mentions only one condition that can serve as a reason for termination rather than dissolution of a marriage - the death of one of the spouses.
How much does divorce cost in Belarus in 2020 through the court?
- there is a mutual desire to dissolve the marriage;
- there are no disputes about the division of joint property.
- no minor children;
Divorce through the registry office is carried out on a date agreed upon with the spouses, but not earlier than one and not later than two months from the date of filing the documents. Documents that need to be submitted to the registry office for divorce:
- an application from one of the spouses to register a divorce in his absence - if it is impossible for him to appear at the registry office;
- document confirming payment.
- passports of spouses;
- joint statement of the spouses;
Divorce in Belarusian or an easy way out of a difficult situation
So, a couple wants to get a divorce in the registry office in 2020, what is needed for this: The marriage will be officially terminated 30 days from the date of filing the application.
Divorce statistics in Belarus say that Belarusians get divorced in court no less often than in the registry office. This option is suitable for spouses if: one of them does not want to voluntarily dissolve the marriage; have common minor children; there are property and financial disputes.
How much does it cost to file a divorce in Belarus?
The legislator gives Belarusians the right to divorce, but how much does divorce cost in Belarus?
It is possible that the price of freedom may be beyond the reach of the average citizen. Family relationships can be dissolved at the registry office or through the court.
The first way is faster, simpler, and will cost less.
But only for its implementation three conditions must be present: mutual consent; settled disputes; absence of children.
State duty amount
If the property is valued at 20,000 rubles, then 4% will have to be paid to the state.
When dividing 100,000 rubles, 800 of them are due to the court. Moreover, you will need to pay an additional approximately 3% of this amount.
If the property is valued at 200,000 rubles, then the state duty will be equal to 3,300 rubles and 2% of the total amount.
Other expenses
As for the state duty on alimony, the Tax Code of Belarus establishes certain amounts of this mandatory payment. It can be paid at any bank branch. There you will be given a corresponding receipt, which you need to keep.
It is a document confirming the fact of payment of the state duty. You must provide this check to the court. The mandatory tax for filing a claim for divorce must be paid according to the details of the court in which you are filing the corresponding claim.
The state duty amounts are:
- four basic values for first-time divorce;
- eight values upon termination of officially registered relations for the second time and all subsequent times;
- If you filed for divorce from a person who was declared missing, incompetent or sentenced to a certain term of imprisonment, then the state fee will be one amount.
As for the additional cost, you will have to pay for the services of an appraiser and other legal costs. This also includes all kinds of examinations.
It should be noted that if you make a request for the division of jointly acquired property, then you must pay a separate tax, which is approximately 5% of the amount of the claim (the cost of the claim).
List of required documents for divorce
To get a divorce, you will have to start collecting the necessary documents. There are no special references in the list. If any documents are lost, it is possible to restore them, but this will take extra time and delay the initiation of the procedure for several more months.
If the divorce takes place through the registry office, and one of the spouses will be absent in the coming months, he must write a statement of consent to register the divorce without his presence.
Through the registry office
The simplified procedure will require a minimum package of documents.
To dissolve a marriage without providing a time limit for reconciliation, you will need:
- a jointly written statement on behalf of the still husband and wife;
- receipt of payment of state duty;
- a copy of the marriage certificate;
- copies of passports.
The waiting period will be a month. After this, you will have to appear at the registry office so that the appropriate marks are put in your passports. From this moment on, the window to a new, free life will be open for both former spouses.
Through the court
Before going to court, you should mentally prepare for a possibly tedious and lengthy process that will exhaust your nerves and require a lot of effort. You need to start with a statement.
At the end of the application, indicate a list of accompanying documents. These include:
- copy of passport;
- a copy of the marriage certificate;
- a copy of the children’s metrics;
- marriage contract, if concluded;
- a certificate of income if the issue of withholding alimony is decided;
- inventory of joint property;
- receipt of payment of the duty.
The list of documents may be supplemented at the discretion of the plaintiff.
Divorce through the registry office
The easiest way to file for divorce in Belarus is to contact the registry office. This form of termination is not available to all Belarusians. The main criteria for a simplified form are:
- mutual agreement;
- absence of joint minor children (including children from previous marriages, if the current spouse adopted them);
- independent resolution of property issues or the absence of property acquired jointly.
Note! Citizens have the right to divorce at any time after registering their relationship with the registry office. You don't even have to wait a few years for this. However, instead of ending the marriage after just a few months, it is recommended to consider the very need for marriage.
After submitting an application to the registry office, it will take about 1-2 months before citizens receive notification that their request has been granted. After this, a mark indicating the termination of the relationship is placed in the passports.
What documents will be required?
A petition for divorce must be submitted to the civil registry office at the place of residence of any of the applicants. However, consent must be mutual. Husband and wife must come to the state. institution together and submit the application in person. In addition to the petition written in the approved form, you will need to bring your own passports.
Only one citizen is allowed to submit an application if the second applicant cannot come to the registry office for personal reasons. In the absence of a husband or wife, their consent must be confirmed by a document certified by a notary. It is attached to the application along with a copy of the passport.
Reference! In such cases, it is not necessary to bring the marriage certificate to the registry office.
Another required document is a receipt for payment of the duty. You can determine how much a divorce costs in Belarus by the number of previous marriages. For the first divorce proceedings, the fee in accordance with Appendix 14 to the Special Part of the Tax Code of the Republic of Belarus is 4 basic units, in 2020 it is 98 rubles. For each subsequent process, even if the husband remarried his ex-wife, a state fee of 8 basic units is paid, i.e. 196 rubles for 2019.
Filing a claim
The claim is filed in court either at the place of registration or at the place of residence, which is much more convenient. In the claim, in addition to the full name of the court where the plaintiff is applying, and his data, it is necessary to indicate the date and place of registration of the union, information about common children. The reasons for divorce are explained in detail.
In addition to the divorce itself, the following issues can be considered in parallel:
- with whom the common child will live;
- the other parent's visitation schedule;
- property division;
- which party will become the person liable for alimony;
- the amount of alimony withheld and the type of withholding.
All these questions are listed in Art. 39 of the Code on Marriage and Family. In case of disputes, your case must be supported by evidence.
The court does not tolerate unfoundedness, so it is necessary to begin strengthening your position before the trial itself.
A sample claim form can be found here.
Resolving controversial issues
You should not expect that immediately after the first meeting you will be divorced from your hated spouse. In most cases, the court gives 3 months for reconciliation. Marriages are dissolved only when the court concludes that preserving the family is no longer possible. The main controversial issue is making a decision about children:
- the procedure for communication and participation in the upbringing of their separately living parent;
- establishing a place of residence;
- amount of alimony.
If there is a voluntary agreement on children or a marriage contract, then the decision is made in accordance with its clauses. Otherwise, the court makes a verdict based on:
- attachment to parents;
- the age of the child (after 10 years, minors can decide for themselves with whom they want to live);
- degree of care for the baby;
- material security of each spouse;
- opinions of employees of the guardianship and trusteeship department.
Specialists from the guardianship authorities ask the child’s opinion. In some cases, you can invite a minor to a meeting, but there must be a teacher in the room. It is important to find out whether there is pressure on the child that influences his decision-making.
The second most important controversial issue is the division of property. As a general rule, everything acquired during marriage is jointly acquired. Spouses have the right to claim equal shares, unless otherwise provided by the marriage contract. By decision of the court, the share of each spouse may be increased or decreased if there are compelling reasons.
Property not subject to division:
- belonging to the spouse before the marriage is registered (you also cannot claim income from its sale or use);
- received as a gift or by inheritance (income from its sale and use also belongs only to one of the spouses);
- items intended for individual use (excluding luxury items and jewelry);
- things purchased with personal funds;
- items purchased after the termination of joint farming;
- things intended for individual use by children.
Sometimes even the listed property becomes joint property. If you inherited an apartment, and your spouse used his savings to make major repairs in it and was able to confirm this with checks, the court may decide to allocate him a share proportional to the costs incurred. However, this rule only applies if the changes made have increased the cost of housing. Disputes regarding other material assets are resolved in a similar manner.
Divorce procedure
Once the application is accepted by the court, it will not begin the process without providing a mandatory “conciliation” period for the two spouses.
During this time, it is assumed that they will be able to come to an agreement and either postpone the divorce or move through the end of the marriage with a minimum of controversial issues.
If after 90 days the spouses have not reached a compromise, the court makes a decision on the case. The specifics of the procedure are described in Article 36.
By the way, the servants of Themis have the right to extend the period of reconciliation up to six months, if there are significant grounds for this.
If there are minor children
According to statistics, in more than 90% of cases the child remains to live with his mother. This is a kind of “default” rule; if the husband does not agree, he can file a lawsuit expressing his desire to raise the child on his own. Children over 10 years old are asked in court for their opinion on who they would like to live with.
The amount of alimony in Belarus does not differ from our figures:
- 1 child - a quarter of income.
- 2 children - 33%.
- 3 or more - half the income.
Article 92 contains a clause regarding the minimum amount of payments for able-bodied parents:
- 1 child - 50%.
- 2 children - 75%.
- 3 and more - 100%.
Percentages are calculated from the average minimum cost of living in the country.
If the wife is pregnant
If the wife is pregnant and before the child reaches the age of three, it is necessary to obtain the consent of the other party to the divorce in writing.
In this case, the man must live with the child and raise him.
In situations where the fact of paternity has been documented, or when, by a court decision, the spouse was crossed out in the birth certificate, this rule does not apply. This provision is stipulated in Article 35.
With a foreign citizen
Divorce of marriages with foreigners who permanently reside outside of Belarus is considered the most difficult.
You will have to draw up a statement of claim and file it with the courts of the country in which the defendant resides.
This process is fraught with numerous difficulties: translation of documents, nuances of legal proceedings that the plaintiff is not aware of. If a foreign citizen is located on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, then a divorce from him is carried out in a general manner according to the same rules as divorces for families with two citizens of the Republic of Belarus in their composition.
Who will the children be with?
The question of who the children will remain with after a divorce is resolved through a peaceful conclusion between the spouses. If this is not possible, then the couple must go to court, which will make the final decision on who the children or child should stay with.
The decision is made based on which parent the child is more attached to. At the same time, children over the age of 10 can take part in resolving this issue, because they are asked about who they want to stay with.
Special attention is also paid to such factors as:
- the possibility of providing financial support for the child;
- relationship with the child and care;
- opinion of the guardianship commission and guardianship representatives.
Naturally, this issue is resolved through the courts. And the cost of divorce in the Republic of Belarus through the court in 2020 deserves special attention. However, here the cost of the state duty will be the same. However, when applying to the courts, you will also have to pay legal costs, the amount of which will be individual for each couple.
Property – how to divide?
When filing for divorce, you should also take into account the property of the spouses. In accordance with the general rule of family law, jointly acquired property is property that is owned in common.
In a divorce, both spouses can claim equal shares of the property. However, the court may decide in favor of one or the other spouse, but this requires compelling reasons.
There is also property that is not divided:
- This item includes the property that was in a person’s use before marriage, and this line also includes income from the premarital period;
- do not share gifts or property that the couple inherited, as well as personal items; in this case, the exception is jewelry and luxury items);
- It is impossible to divide those items that were purchased by either spouse after the termination of the common household, but this must be proven, as well as the belongings of minor children.
Interesting fact! When filing a divorce through the registry office, it is necessary to take into account the fact that sometimes it happens that property belongs to one of the spouses, but is recognized as common property. This happens if the court finds that two spouses made financial investments that increased the value of the property being divided. This could be reconstruction, improvement, and so on.
Division of marital property
Typically, joint property is divided into equal shares between spouses. What was given or received by inheritance cannot be considered common.
Only purchases using funds from the “family” budget automatically classify the property as joint. There are a number of exceptions in which the shares of spouses may be revised.
For example, if it is proven to the court that one of the spouses, being able-bodied, did not want to work and led a parasitic lifestyle, without investing any money in the family. In this case, its share will be significantly less. Obligations to creditors whose funds were taken for the needs of the family are also divided in half.
If the loan funds were spent by one of the spouses solely on themselves, the court will most likely exempt the second of the couple from paying these obligations.
How to get a divorce quickly?
Since 2013, changes have been made to the Code on Marriage and Family.
Now a couple can get a divorce quickly through the registry office with minor reservations. They should not have minor children or property disputes. If the spouses are ready to separate amicably without mutual reproaches, then the simplified procedure is for such couples.
The divorce officially takes effect exactly 1 month from the date of filing the application.
There are also a number of special cases when the procedure is also carried out very quickly, even without the consent of the second party, if it:
- declared missing;
- sentenced to a term of at least 3 years;
- incapacitated due to mental illness or dementia, as confirmed by a medical certificate.
For these cases, the application is submitted unilaterally. The waiting period for a divorce is also 30 days. These provisions are listed in more detail in Article 36.
